MAC ~ Call the Hairdresser!

This is the one & only MAC item I picked up whilst I was in NYC, shocking I know, but it's a goodie!!

MAC Call the Hairdresser! is an lustre finish & is a beautiful pinky coral shade, perfect for summer.  Annoyingly though, I can't find it on the UK site so it must be unique to the States, sorry!!  I'll try & find a dupe & add it on if I find one.

What's your favourite shade of MAC lippy?

New York shopping

Well, after all my planning & preparation, to say my shopping 'haul' from New York was a bit disappointing is a huge understatement!!

A lot of the makeup I was after was sold out in many (many!!!) Sephora stores & even though we went into pretty much every CVS & Duane Reade we passed (so yeah, a LOT!), the displays were nearly always empty so I didn't get everything from there either.

Here's the few pieces I did pick up....

From Sephora, I only managed to snag a mini Sephora mascara for $5 (from the Aisle of Temptation!  You'll know if you've been there!!) & an Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade, which was $18.  From CVS I bought two lipsticks from Wet n Wild for a couple of dollars each (which are surprisingly good & give MAC a run for their money!)  I also picked up a MAC lipstick in Call the Hairdresser from Macy's from the rudest sales assistants I've ever had the 'pleasure' to come across.

I desperately wanted to find the E.L.F. store but the address we had, after traipsing up & down this sodding street several times in torrential rain, we discovered had closed down, grrrrr!!!  So I thought that'd be a no-go but then I found a small display of products in Old Navy & picked up 2 each of the brushes shown here (one set for my daughter) & a BB cream.  However, apart from the MAC & one of the WnW lipsticks, everything else is as yet unused waiting to be reviewed so watch this space!!

I didn't find one single bag that I liked enough to warrant spending a few hundred dollars on & no clothes were to be found either.  Anything I found that I did like, I knew I could buy cheaper here so I left them!  To be honest, we spent most of our money on bits for the kids!

But the one thing I did buy that I really wanted & is now my pride & joy, was my Tissot watch.  However, this was bought from Duty Free at Heathrow so doesn't really come under the 'New York shopping' heading but hey ho!!  I googled the price of the watch in NY & it would've been significantly more to buy there so as I was going to save £70 off the price buying from Duty Free, it was a no-brainer!!

So I'm sorry I don't have more to show you but now that my computer is working again, I'll get reviews of the bits I did get up asap!!

MAC ~ Brick-O-La

I put a photo of this on Instagram the other day & then realised I hadn't actually done a blog post on it, whoops!  We have here my favourite lipstick at the moment, Brick-O-La by MAC.

*Whoa, extreme close-up, scary!!!*

I picked this up on a total whim one day from the MAC counter within Harvey Nichols in Edinburgh & I adore it.  It's an amplified finish so it's creamy & very moisturising to wear.  Longevity is not fantastic if not worn with a lip liner but that's true of most lipsticks that are not 12-hour formulas so it's not a biggie.

I can only describe the colour as warm pink with a hint of terracotta to it, making it a very wearable shade.  I find myself wearing it a lot at the moment & it's already on my re-purchase list but I'm trying hard to eek it out until I can get to duty free in 6 weeks!!

It can (obviously!) be ordered direct from MAC online for £15.50 but if I can't get to a counter, I prefer to order via Debenhams so I can collect my Beauty Card points!!

Is anyone else a fan of MAC lipsticks?

What's in my bag?

I love these sort of posts as I'm such a curious nosey mare!  This was the topic today for the Instagram #JanuaryPhotoChallenge but I thought I'd share it on here for those of you not on IG.

A lot of posts like this consist of very neat & tidy bag contents.....well mine today was basically full of crap, crumpled up receipts & fluffy mints included!!

Today, I was using my lovely Nica bag that I bought in John Lewis last November.  When I carry a larger bag like this, I tend to chuck everything into my lift-out organiser from Primark, it's so handy!  In this, I always keep a notepad, pen, tape measure, tissues, paracetamol & mints - standard bag contents really!  My friends take the mickey out of me for carrying a tape measure but I can't tell you the times it's come in handy.  So much so that's it's falling to pieces!

My Cath Kidston pouch contains Kiehl's lip balm, Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream, Cath Kidston mini hand cream, plasters, my library card, a perfume sample & 4(why?) lipsticks (Revlon Lip Butter in Candy Apple, Clinique Chubby Stick mini in Super Strawberry, MAC Brick-O-La & Plumful)  

I've also got a sample pot of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite that my friend had picked up for me the other day.  My new bar stools & bedside tables are going to get a hit of this!  Oh, and of course my phone (Samsung Galaxy S4 mini), my keys & my purse - which for some reason I forgot to add in the photo.

Please tell me I'm not the only person who has a stack of old receipts & fluffy sweets in their bag!!

MAC ~ Hot Tahiti

My daughters bought me another MAC lippy for one of my Christmas presents (they know me so well!) & this little gem is named Hot Tahiti.

As it's a glaze finish, I was expecting only a sheer hint of colour but it's surprisingly really pigmented with a medium blue-toned wash of red-pink, it's gorgeous.

I'm sorry there are no 'lip-wearing' photos but when I took them, I was in the depths of yet another foul cold & well, the Rudolph effect would've detracted somewhat from the lipstick!!

New York planning #1 ~ travelling light

    So we've finally begun to plan our much longed-for trip to New York next spring & me being the total list-lover that I am, I'm already planning how best to pack & travel light to free up room in my case to bring back lots of goodies! (Yes, I already have a shopping list on the go too!!)

I always over-pack when I go away, even when I think I'm being really good so this time, I'm determined to get it right.  Day time will be spent sight-seeing so comfy, light-weight clothes that can be layered are a must, as are flat, comfy shoes & a cross-body bag - I'll need my hands free for lots of photo taking!

I love maxi skirts as they can worn in the day with a vest top, denim jacket, scarf & Converse or in the evening with a smarter top, blazer & heels so are a real must for me.  My kimono is ridiculously light-weight but looks great over a vest top with a statement necklace, a pair of skinny jeans, heels & a red lip.

I'm going to try & stick to a navy or black & white capsule with a couple of brights added in via scarves, jewellery & lipstick - naturally!!  All I'll need are MAC Plumful & Russian Red & that's my lips sorted too!

                               

Travelling light by fortytherapy 

Everything else on here is pretty self-explanatory - super-light hand luggage, iPad (note-taking, music, Kindle, films, camera etc in one!!)  I spotted the yellow top in M&S yesterday & it's soooo beautiful.  I immediately thought of wearing it with a pair of skinnies, heels & my striped blazer - easy smart/casual outfit for one evening.  I love these heels from Next as they're not ridiculously high so if we do walk to a restaurant in the evening, I won't be too crippled!  Actually, there's an awful lot in Next I'll be ordering soon, the S/S collection is gorgeous.........!

So that's my plan - at the minute!  Anybody else have any 'packing light' tips?  I'm getting back to my notebook now........lists to be made people!!

MAC ~ Plumful

Whenever I go to Edinburgh, I always pop into Harvey Nicks to have a gander at the MAC counter.  Admittedly, it's nearly always that ridiculously busy that it's nigh on impossible to even reach the stands but luck was on my side when I popped in in late November.

I had a list of potential lippies that I'd taken from blogger recommendations & one colour that kept popping up time & time again was Plumful.  After swatching it, I decided that it was going to be my purchase of the day & I've worn it so much already, it's down to the last quarter left in the bullet!

Plumful is a lustre finish lipstick & it feels so nourishing on the lips, it's lovely!  It's quite a high sheen finish so if used without a lipliner, it doesn't last for hours on end & can have tendency to bleed.  I have to reapply after about 3 hours but longer if I use it with a lipliner, which also helps to stem the bleeding issue.

I'm annoyed with the the photo of the product on my lips though as it doesn't look this Barbie-pink in real life, funnily enough, it's more plum than pink.  It has blue undertones so makes my teeth look nice & white & is not too bright or garish that it looks too much for day makeup.  This will definitely be a staple colour in my makeup bag from now on.

My daughters bought me MAC Hot Tahaiti for christmas so I'll do a post on this colour very soon!

A day oot in Auld Reekie

 

 

 

 

Very rarely these days do Mr F & I get the chance to have a whole day to ourselves so when my mum came home after visiting my sister for 6 weeks & offerered to do the school runs etc. we jumped at the chance!  I'd received a fair amount of pennies for my birthday a couple of weeks back so we decided to go to Edinburgh for the day so I could go to John Lewis & Harvey Nichols & spend them!!

 

I love Edinburgh so much, I would live there in a heartbeat.....I just need to do some serious praying to the Lottery gods first though!  We normally take the train through but we find more often than not, there are never any seats on the return journey so have to end up standing for an hour & a half.  Not good at all when you've paid good money for a ticket, in my opinion.  So this time we decided to use the park & ride just beside the Forth Road Bridge which turned out to be so fast & easy, I just think we'll use this option from now on!

 

Anyway, I had a very successful day & picked up a load of new skincare & cosmetics.....and the obligatory pair of new shoes of course!  No shopping trip is complete without new shoes but instead of a pair of sky-high heels, this time I opted for the sensible-but-damn-comfortable ballet flats from Clarks. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.  MAC Viva Glam 1

2.  No7 cream blush Maple Silk

3.  Soltan Gradually Golden for face

4.  L'Oréal Nude Magique CC Anti-fatigue

5.  Stila Prime Pot

6.  MAC lipliner Spice

7.  Revlon Lip Butter Red Velvet, Raspberry Pie & Pink Truffle

 

I also purchased more of my favourite cleanser, the fabulous Cleanse & Polish by Liz Earle & a lip balm from Kiehl's, a range I've never tried before but I'm loving the product so far.  I also bought a new make-up pouch & some mini handcreams from Cath Kidston to keep in my handbag rather than the great big tubes I normally stash in there & finally got my hands on some Real Techniques brushes.  These things are like gold dust around here, they're always sold out but a full review of these will follow.  And finally, every trip to Edinburgh involves a visit to Bravissimo for new undies.  I was fitted by the brilliant & very patient Brigit & came away with 2 new sets.

 

Mr F wanted to go to the Hard Rock Café (again!) for lunch where I enjoyed quite possibly the tastiest steak I've had in a looong time & a couple of beers went down well too!  So that's me well & truly spent up for quite some time now.  Well, except for this fabulous bridge camera that I have my eye on that is!  I may have to do quite a few eBay & carbooting sessions to raise the funds for that one though!

 

À la prochaine!